


Longing to Linger til Dawn

by hopeless_eccentric



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Banter, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Hair Braiding, Other, Simp Peter Nureyev, Sleepiness, Tenderness, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, and juno coerces him back to bed by playing with his hair, in which nureyev stays up late studying, this is honest to goodness one of the nicest things ive ever written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:46:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29391435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopeless_eccentric/pseuds/hopeless_eccentric
Summary: “Perhaps, then, you might survive the terrible crime of my absence a little better if you were to sleep through it,” Nureyev replied, and though his head was still all but buried in his mound of blueprints and notes, Juno felt something warm bloom in his chest at the sound of a smile in his voice.“Don’t make me come over there.”“And do what? Coax me back to bed with your feminine wiles?” Nureyev chuckled.“Too tired for feminine wiles,” Juno huffed, though the words blurred into a groan as he dragged himself out of bed and across the floor.
Relationships: Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel
Comments: 36
Kudos: 129
Collections: TPP Valentine's Exchange





	Longing to Linger til Dawn

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GerryStAmour](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GerryStAmour/gifts).



> oh man. this one's super soft guys. happy valentine's day!
> 
> I'd usually put the content warnings here, but I can't think of any for this one. honest to goodness a pretty fun time! anyway, enjoy the fic!

If Juno had been a bit more artistically inclined, he might have been able to appreciate the scene before him. The sodium orange of the lamp cast the antique reverence of candlelight across Nureyev’s face, wearing lines in lieu of makeup and a hard, thoughtful expression currently fighting a war against the exhaustion that tugged at him like a desperate suitor. However, Juno cared a lot more about the depth of his dark circles than just how nice he looked when making them darker, so he made a point of sighing noisily upon sitting up.

“Love,” Nureyev began, though his words blurred with exhaustion, “I can turn down the light if you want.”

“Yeah, that’d be nice,” Juno returned with a slight wince as his back cracked uncomfortably.

“My sincerest apologies for keeping you up, my dear detective,” Nureyev murmured, hand audibly fumbling for the dial at the base of the lamp. “How low do you want the light?”

“Off.”

“Juno, I’ve hardly memorized my notes,” Peter sighed. He cleared his throat in a futile effort to stifle a yawn, but he barely paused a moment before the most defiantly cute sound Juno had ever heard fell past his lips. “Sleep can wait until I’ve memorized the locations of every camera in the building.”

“Nureyev,” Juno groaned, head falling back against the headboard.

“Dear.”

“You need to sleep,” he huffed.

“I can sleep once we’ve—” Nureyev stifled another yawn, “finished the heist.”

“You’re exhausted.”

“I’m not exhausted,” Nureyev mumbled, though the words tripped and slurred together.

“You don’t need to be a detective to know you need sleep, Nureyev,” Juno started. “Don’t you think that’s probably good for the heist too? Hell, I’d rather go into a job underprepared than dead on my feet. Not that I listened to my own advice or anything, but—”

“Juno, my love, if you care so deeply about sleep, I don’t see why you shouldn’t be dedicating this time to getting some of your own,” Nureyev broke him off, though the few inches between his slumping head and the desk before him did nothing to help his argument.

“I can’t sleep,” Juno snorted. “I’m cold and lonely or whatever.”

“Love,” Nureyev began, voice stern, “you fared perfectly well without me for thirty eight years.”

“And I can’t stand another moment,” Juno returned flatly.

“Perhaps, then, you might survive the terrible crime of my absence a little better if you were to sleep through it,” Nureyev replied, and though his head was still all but buried in his mound of blueprints and notes, Juno felt something warm bloom in his chest at the sound of a smile in his voice.

“Don’t make me come over there.”

“And do what? Coax me back to bed with your feminine wiles?” Nureyev chuckled.

“Too tired for feminine wiles,” Juno huffed, though the words blurred into a groan as he dragged himself out of bed and across the floor.

Thankfully, his desk, which had eventually become Nureyev’s desk, was less than three strides away, so he barely had time to miss the warm comfort of the sheets before he could make up for it with his head buried in Nureyev’s shoulder and his arms slung lazily around him. Somewhere in the back of a very tired mind, he had the feeling that looking so exhausted would be a more compelling argument than appearing awake, but his eyes were far too heavy and Nureyev was far too warm for him to consider any strategy at such a time.

“Nureyev,” Juno murmured in a single syllable, the sound dying away as his head flopped into the crook of Peter’s neck for what was either a kiss to the junction of his neck and shoulder or an affectionate headbutt. Juno was honestly too tired to care. “Can you just sleep already so I can go back to bed?”

“You don’t need me to rest, dear,” Nureyev chuckled.

Juno opened his mouth to reply, shutting it for a fond hum when Nureyev turned to kiss his head.

“I miss you,” he grumbled. “Can’t a guy miss his—whatever?”

“Never,” Nureyev smiled. “Not when there’s work to be done.”

“You have time tomorrow,” Juno huffed. “What the hell do I have to do to convince you to cuddle with me? And before you ask, no feminine wiles. It’s one in the goddamn morning. I’m all feminine wiled out.”

“Juno,” Nureyev sighed, trying and failing to keep his head from nodding back down towards the desk once more, “how do you have the energy to be so stubborn at such an hour?”

“I always have the energy to be stubborn,” Juno snorted.

“Touché.”

“Okay, well how about I try something else?” Juno started after a moment.

“Love,” Nureyev lamented.

“No, no—I think you’ll like this one,” Juno pressed, voice picking up a bit with the energy of the idea. “Why don’t I help you study if you’re not gonna sleep?”

“My dear detective, why does this feel like a trick?”

“Trust me,” Juno pressed. “Is there anything you need me to do for you? Even if you just want me to rub your shoulders or whatever.”

“My love, if you plan to rub my shoulders, I hope you also plan to drag me back to bed,” Nureyev chuckled, though his words fell away into a yawn. “Something that might keep me awake, perhaps. Detective, did I braid my hair? I meant to.”

“You don’t remember?”

“I’m a busy man, Juno.”

Juno pulled away from his lazy, slumped embrace for long enough to confirm that Nureyev’s hair was loose and merely gathered at an odd angle from his hours of toiling over various notebooks and blueprints and computers. As much as his arms, now used to the body heat, ached to return to their homes atop Nureyev’s shoulders, he wasn’t too tired to know playing with Peter’s hair would have the exact effect Nureyev refused to concede to for his own good.

“You want me to braid it for you?”

“That would be ideal,” Nureyev returned. “Don’t be too gentle with me, now. Perhaps it might keep me awake for long enough to finish memorizing the air ducts.”

“Do you really need to memorize the air ducts?” Juno snorted, beginning to card his fingers through Nureyev’s hair to separate the strands. He tried his best to stifle a victorious laugh when Nureyev closed his eyes and hummed against the sensation of fingers on his scalp.

“You never know when you’ll need them, my dearest,” he yawned, though a smile was still clear in his words. “My, that is nice. I should have you braid my hair more often.”

“This is bribery, Nureyev,” Juno chuckled. “I’m not gonna do this every night.”

“As much as I wish to disagree, I'll have to admit, I’m inclined to agree with you,” Nureyev all but lamented. “I doubt I’d ever be able to study again, knowing I could have your hands in my hair instead. You’ve undone me, you brute.”

“You’re welcome,” Juno snorted.

Nureyev merely hummed pleasantly, a faint grin blooming on his face with all the gentle reverence of the lamplight, as if it knew exactly what it was blessing when making its loving pilgrimage across his lips.

“My, Juno,” Nureyev chuckled, “you’re making it quite difficult to focus.”

“Is it me or the sleep deprivation?” Juno teased, letting his fingers linger just a moment longer before he started to twine the strands of hair together. Nureyev would never forgive him if he ruined the braid for the sake of running his nails along his scalp, but Juno wasn’t done treasuring that sleepy smile of his just yet. 

“Don’t take that tone,” Nureyev huffed, though his words were warm with affection.

“I’m just trying to help,” Juno returned as he began to braid his hair in earnest. “You said you wanted a braid anyway.”

“I was a fool,” Nureyev sighed. “Apparently, getting your hair played with by such artful fingers doubles as a sedative.”

“All the better,” Juno chuckled.

“Now who’s the detective?” Nureyev mused. “It seems I’ve discovered your dastardly plan, you cad. I suppose I’ll just have to arrest you.”

“Oh geez,” Juno snorted. “You got a key or something I could kiss out of your pocket?”

“Let’s not discuss the contents of my pockets,” Nureyev huffed, though not without affection. “You really ought to braid my hair more often Juno.”

“You told me.”

Nureyev hummed thoughtfully.

“Did I?”

“Yeah, right before telling me that I actually shouldn’t, because it would make you wanna sleep instead of running yourself ragged over a couple of blueprints that aren’t gonna help with anything,” Juno chuckled. “You should really hear yourself sometimes.”

“Well, if that’s so—” Nureyev paused to yawn, though it seemed his train of thought and his words both left him, for the remains of his sentence merely tumbled away into a pleasant sigh and a gentle hum.

“You really need to get some sleep,” Juno pressed after a moment. “Why don’t you go to bed after I finish the tie?”

“Dear,” Nureyev complained. “I’ve told you—”

“You can’t hold a coherent conversation right now, Nureyev,” Juno broke him off, though he paused a moment to finish up with the hair tie. “You’re not gonna get anything helpful from those blueprints.”

“Thank you for the braid, my love, but I’m afraid I asked you to do my hair, not criticize my methodology.”

“Whatever,” Juno snorted.

Before Nureyev could do more than let his mouth fall open in faux-offense, Juno leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the gray streak anointing his temple. Even if they were, on technicality, mid-argument, he couldn’t help but take a moment to pause and show his affection. Maybe it was schmaltzy, but it felt wrong somehow to do Nureyev’s hair without sending him off with a spare affectionate touch as an apology for the moment being a finite thing.

“I love you too, dear,” Nureyev conceded to smile.

He leaned back into Juno’s kiss, only pausing to wince at the sound of his back and shoulders and neck popping as he tipped back in the chair. By the time he managed to drag himself up from the desk, a lazy smile had spilled across his face, upside down and just below Juno’s.

“Hey,” Juno grinned.

“Hello, my love,” Nureyev smiled, closing his eyes with a pleasant exhale when Juno bent down to kiss his forehead.

“Hey, Nureyev?” Juno started as soon as he was finished committing the atrocity of parting his lips from Nureyev’s forehead.

“Yes, dear?”

“How mad at me would you be if I stole something from you?”

Nureyev’s brow furrowed. Juno had to stifle a smile at just how sweet the expression was when upside down.

“Well, I suppose it would only be fair, what with the incident with the key, and—” Nureyev’s words fell away into open mouthed fury as Juno slid his glasses off his face and pocketed them. “Juno Steel!”

“You said you wouldn’t be mad,” Juno snorted.

“I assumed it was a mere romantic hypothetical,” Nureyev huffed, turning and groping blindly at the dark air in search of glasses that refused to materialize within his grasp. “Juno Steel, you return my glasses to my nose this instant.”

“Look, if the only way I’m gonna get you to take care of yourself is through theft and bribery, that’s how it’s gotta be,” Juno chuckled. “Same deal as when you stole all the blankets so I’d cuddle with you, just a little more important.”

“That was incredibly important,” Nureyev complained.

“Keep telling yourself that,” Juno returned absentmindedly, doing his best to hide the frames in Nureyev’s glasses case as quietly as possible.

His efforts seemed to have worked, for Nureyev didn’t turn his head at the noise, merely groaning and dragging himself from the chair with all the effort of dredging an anchor from the sea by hand. However, Peter’s great act of strength in lifting himself from a chair didn’t continue for long. The moment he tried to take a step forward, his knee buckled and he ended up slumped into Juno’s arms before he could do more than let out a frustrated noise.

“Hey, hey—” Juno started upon catching him. “Let’s get you to bed, alright?”

Nureyev huffed, though his resistance died after a moment in a warm and soft and familiar embrace seemed to soften him towards the idea of sleep. Unfortunately for Juno, it seemed he softened to the idea so quickly that his full body weight soon slumped into Juno’s shoulder.

“Can you walk?’ Juno grimaced.

“No,” Nureyev yawned pointedly.

“Nureyev,” Juno groaned. Nureyev let out a sigh so sweet that his ire barely lasted for a second.

After a moment of steeling himself, Juno gritted his teeth and began the slow and awkward process of dragging Nureyev across the floor and into bed. Juno didn’t know if Nureyev was too tired to complain or all too happy to be dragged, but either way, he flopped into bed without complaint the moment he was within a foot of the mattress.

“You still alive?” Juno snorted by the time he’d caught his breath enough to stretch out.

“Mhm,” Nureyev returned somewhere from the mattress at Juno’s side. Before Juno could even try to reply, he rolled over and flopped an arm over Juno’s chest, seeming to decide that Juno’s sternum made a far better headrest than any of the pillows. “You’re so warm, my love.”

“So this means I’m right, right?”

“Beg pardon?” Nureyev yawned.

Juno held off his witty remark for long enough for Nureyev to burrow into his side and under the blankets as if he were magnetized to the heat source in the bed. Even if he was a master thief with a knife for every letter of the solar alphabet and a grin to make most carnivores jealous, he also managed to look like the sweetest thing Juno had ever been lucky enough to look at in his entire life with his hair a little mussed up and his head buried in Juno’s chest.

“I was right that you should go to bed,” Juno finally snorted, knowing Nureyev wouldn’t be awake for much more conversation and he couldn’t wait on the words forever.

“My love,” Nureyev sighed, breaking himself off to lean up and press a sweet, albeit brief kiss to the corner of Juno’s mouth. Juno wasn’t sure if exhaustion or a lack of glasses made him miss, but something warm bloomed in his chest either way.

“Yeah?”

Nureyev returned his head to Juno’s chest with a huff.

“Kindly shut up.”

“Love you too, honey.”

**Author's Note:**

> :')
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading!! Make sure to SMASH that kudos button and leave a comment down below! No threat on this one, it's a holiday
> 
> Check me out on tumblr @hopeless-eccentric or on twitter @withane22 !!


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